


Breaking Ice

by auclizzy



Category: Shadowhunters (TV)
Genre: M/M, THEY'RE ALL HUMANS, alec breaks stuff to talk to magnus, alternative universe, magnus is a handyman, not much to really say, that's about it
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-09
Updated: 2016-10-09
Packaged: 2018-08-20 11:39:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,322
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8247421
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/auclizzy/pseuds/auclizzy
Summary: "Fifteen minutes later, and he had successfully unscrewed the handle and dropped the screws into the sink. He picked up his phone, scrolled through his recent calls, and hit dial when he found the number to the handyman company. Five minutes later and somebody was on the way; now Alec just had to wait."OR the one where Magnus is a handyman and Alec keeps breaking stuff





	

**Author's Note:**

> based on the tumblr prompt: "the new handyman’s hot so I’m gonna keep breaking stuff."

Of course today would be the day that Alec’s shower broke. He had stayed at work several hours late because one of his coworkers had fallen ill, so he had to help cover their shift. He wasn’t complaining; he could use the overtime. But, today also happened to be the day that he had agreed to go to dinner with his friends. Izzy had been nagging him to go out for ages, so there was no way he could reschedule. Groaning, he pulled out his phone. “Siri, what are the nearest handyman companies?” Hardly sparing his phone a glance, he selected one and dialed the number. Five minutes later, a handyman was on the way and Alec was back to getting ready.

***

Thirty minutes of waiting later, his doorbell rang. It's about time, he thought to himself as he stood up and made his way to the door. Ready to get the ordeal over with, he swung it open — and immediately froze. The man in front of him was gorgeous. Black hair, golden green eyes, and a smile to die for. After a few moments, the handsome stranger cleared his throat and Alec snapped out of it.

“Alec, I presume?” Oh god, even his voice was attractive. Alec blinked a couple of times before replying.

“Yes, come on in.” As the man stepped inside, Alec couldn't help but give him a quick once over. Of course he had a nice ass. Was there anything about this guy that was less than perfect?

“So, Alec, I've heard that your shower’s been busted.” Alec looked up to see the stranger smirking at him. Clearly, he hadn’t been as subtle as he hoped. 

“Um, yes,” Alec said, anxious to advert the man’s attention. “If you’ll follow me, I’ll show you to the bathroom.”

Once there, the guy got to work right away. Alec stood there awkwardly, unsure of what to do. He looked around the room, trying to think of something to say, until eventually his gaze wandered back to the incredibly attractive man fixing his shower. He must have stared for a bit too long, though, because suddenly the man spoke up. 

“Take a picture, it'll last longer.” Alec hastily looked away as he felt his face heat up. “My name’s Magnus, by the way.” 

“I’m Alec.”

“Yes, I know.” Magnus chuckled. “I called you by your name earlier, remember?” Alec’s blush only deepened. He stared at the ground, wishing that it’d open up and swallow him whole. 

“Anyway,” Magnus interrupted his inner turmoil, “that should do it. Your shower is back and running like new.” He turned it on, demonstrating. “Is that all?”

“Yeah, thank you.”

Magnus stood up, brushing off his pants. “Show me out, will you?”

Alec led the way, trying to think of something useful to say. Sure, he didn't know anything about Magnus, but he wanted the chance to get to know him; he couldn't just let him leave without saying a word. Soon enough, though, they were at the door, and Alec still hadn't thought of anything to say. Luckily, Magnus spoke up.

“It was nice to meet you, Alec.” 

“Uh, yeah, you too.” Alec stammered, feeling like an illiterate moron. Magnus didn't seem to mind, though. He shot him a wink as he walked out the door and to his van. 

As Magnus drove away, Alec shut the door and leaned back against it. Maybe his shower should break more often.

***

“You’re late,” his sister, Izzy, stated as he walked into the restaurant he had agreed to meet his friends at. “I was beginning to think you had bailed on us.” 

“Yes, I know. I'm sorry. My shower busted, so I had to wait for a handyman to arrive and fix it.”

“And it never crossed your mind to call us?” Izzy reprimanded. Alec was feeling dumber by the second.

“Sorry. I got a bit… distracted.” Izzy raised an eyebrow and opened her mouth — probably to question him — but Jace chose that moment to run up and hug him.

“Hey man, how’ve you been? We haven’t seen you in ages!” 

They chatted as Izzy led them to the table, where Clary and Simon were waiting. They both cheerfully greeted him. After getting seated, the quintet soon fell into conversation. Everything was going well until Izzy decided to bring up Alec’s tardiness.

“So, you mentioned something about a distraction earlier. What happened?”

“Nothing. My shower broke, I called a handyman, he fixed it, and I came here.”

“Really? “ Jace inquired, “Are you sure that’s what happened? Maybe you found a guy and… you know…” He waggled his eyebrows. Alec could feel a blush creeping in.

“What,” he managed to choke out, “no! Of course not!” Izzy jumped in immediately.

“He hesitated! Who is he? Have you finally got a boyfriend?”

“No, I didn’t! And no, I don’t!” Alec protested.

“Um, you kind of did hesitate.” Simon pointed out.

“So, what’s his name? When will we get to meet him?” Izzy was practically bouncing out of her seat.

“There is no guy!” Alec insisted. “I’m telling you, my shower broke, so I had to call for repairs. Magnus-”

“Magnus! You said Magnus!” Izzy interjected. 

“Yes, he was the handyman. Anyway, he came in and fixed my shower and then left. That’s it.” 

“Then why are you blushing?” Clary asked, grinning.

“I’m not!”

“You definitely are.” Simon declared.

“Was he cute?” Izzy probed.

“Is he available?” Clary inquired.

“Stop!” Alec demanded. “I don’t know if he’s available. Sure, he was kind of cute, but I’m never going to see him again. He came to my house, fixed my shower, and left. Now let it go.”

“Well, if I was you, I’d break my toilet or something so I could see him again.” Jace joked.

“Jace, you’re ridiculous.” Alec dismissed.

***

A couple days had passed since Alec had had dinner with his friends. He paced back and forth. He couldn’t believe that he was actually considering Jace’s idea. Still, he glanced back at his kitchen sink. It wouldn’t be that hard to remove the faucet handles. Before he could change his mind, he quickly googled how to do just that. 

Fifteen minutes later, and he had successfully unscrewed the handle and dropped the screws into the sink. He picked up his phone, scrolled through his recent calls, and hit dial when he found the number to the handyman company. Five minutes later and somebody was on the way; now, Alec just had to wait.

***

Thirty minutes later, the doorbell rang. Alec immediately jumped up and rushed to the door, throwing it open. Standing in front of him was Magnus. 

“Hello again,” he greeted. “May I come in?” Alec stood aside and ushered him in. “So, what seems to be the problem today?”

Alec proceeded to fill him in. “Well, I went to use the sink and the handle came off. I tried to figure out how to put it back on, but no luck.”

Magnus inspected the sink. “Usually, there’s a couple of screws that go with the handle, but I don’t see any here.”

Alec pretended to consider this. “Well, when it came off, I think I may have heard clinking in the sink. Maybe they fell down the drain?”

“Well, if you’re correct, the screws should be sitting in the drain.” Magnus ran back out to his van to retrieve the necessary tools to retrieve the screws and reattach the handle. Once he got back, he set to work right away. “So, this really isn’t your week, is it?”

“I guess not.”

They stood in silence for a few minutes while Magnus withdrew the screws and Alec, once again, tried to come up with something decent to say. He thought that he was handling this remarkably well compared to last time, but now everything was falling apart. Why was he so bad at socializing? Of course, it didn’t help that Magnus was incredibly attractive, but still. He was absolutely terrible at this. 

It shouldn’t even be that hard, if Alec was being honest with himself. All he had to do was come up with something meaningful to say. Hell, even small talk would be better than nothing. He just wanted to get to know Magnus. Judging by the slight flirting last week, he could tell that he wasn’t the only one who felt this way. And of course it was up to him to make a move; it’d be unprofessional of Magnus to do anything.  
Before he could talk himself out of it, he blurted the first thing that came to his mind. 

“So, any plans for the weekend?”

Magnus perked up. “No, nothing so far. What about you?”

“Nope, nothing either. I’ll probably just stay in.” 

“That’s too bad.” 

Now was the time. Alec steeled himself to ask Magnus out. Anyway, what’s the worst that could happen? He’d be turned down? That wouldn’t be the end of the world. If Alec was right, though, he had nothing to worry about. All he had to do was ask. He took a deep breath, opened his mouth, and was interrupted before he even got a word out.

“Finished!” Magnus announced. 

“Oh, um,” Alec stuttered, “that’s great.” 

Nerve lost, he led Magnus to the door. 

“Well, I hope you find something to do this weekend.” Magnus offered.

“Yeah, you too.” Alec replied, feeling dejected. 

And just like that, Magnus was gone.

***

The next day, Alec was upset with himself. He had let Magnus leave without a word again. He couldn’t believe what an idiot he was.

Now, he was determined to not make the same mistake for a third time. He marched to the bathroom, straight to the toilet. He immediately unraveled a roll of toilet paper and threw it into the toilet. He even threw the roll in for good measure. He didn’t care how stupid he looked; he just wanted to ask Magnus out. That’s it. He flushed the toilet to make sure that it was clogged. Sure enough, it was. He pulled out his phone and gave the handyman company a call.

***

When the doorbell rang, a little bit of Alec’s bravery had slipped away, but it was too late to turn back. He walked to the door and swung it open. In front of him stood an unfamiliar man. Alec’s eyebrows furrowed. 

“You’re not Magnus.” He blurted without thinking.

“You don’t say,” the man replied dryly, “Let me guess. Am I also not a turnip?” Alec rolled his eyes and ignored the sarcasm.

“Who are you and what are you doing here?” He asked, straight to the point.

“Well, I’m Ragnor, and I’m here to unclog your toilet.” the man replied. “You did call, didn’t you?”

At this point, Alec was more confused than ever. None of this was making sense to him.

“But I called for Magnus.”

“Well, it’s his day off, so you got me instead. Now, do you want your toilet unclogged? Or did you call just to waste my time?”

Alec was at a loss for words. He didn’t know what to do. If he did let Ragnor in, he’d see the entire roll of toilet paper sitting in the toilet and think that Alec was a moron trying to waste his time. If he didn’t let Ragnor in, he’d think that Alec had called for no reason and was just trying to waste his time. Either way, he wouldn’t look good. He figured he’d better just tell the truth. Ragnor would find out soon enough, anyway.

“Sorry, this is embarrassing, but my toilet’s fine.”

Ragnor looked at him incredulously. “You do realize that you’re still going to be charged for this, right?”

“Yes, sorry. I just thought you’d be Magnus.” Alec tried to explain.

“So, you called and wasted my time?” Ragnor verified. Alec nodded. “Unbelievable.” 

“I’m so sorry.” Alec apologized.

“Whatever.” Ragnor turned and walked away. Alec stood in the doorway, watching him leave, and feeling like an utter idiot.

***

Two days later, there was a knock on the door. Alec paused the movie he was watching and stood up to get it. He wasn’t expecting anybody, so he figured it’d probably just be some salesman. What he didn’t expect to see on the other side of the door was Magnus, but there he was. Alec would never have believed it was possible, but he looked better than ever. He wasn’t wearing his uniform and he also had on some makeup, which looked really good on him. It took everything Alec had in him not to drool.

“Hey,” Magnus began, “you would not believe the funny story that Ragnor told me today.” Alec started to blush as Magnus smirked at him. “Or maybe you would.”

“Oh god,” Alec groaned, “he told you?”

“Yep.” Magnus replied, still smirking. “So I thought I’d drop by and see what you wanted me for so bad.” Alec’s blush only deepened. Well, it was too late to turn back now. He decided to just spit it out.

“I wanted to ask if you were interested in maybe going out.”

“With whom, might I ask?” It was obvious that Magnus didn’t plan to make this easy for him. 

“With me,” Alec stammered in reply.

Magnus pretended to consider it. After rubbing his chin over dramatically and making a drawn out “hmm” sound, he finally gave Alec his answer.

“Yes.” 

Alec let out a breath as his face broke into a grin. “Okay, cool! What day works for you?” 

“How about now?” Magnus inquired.

“Sure!” Alec quickly responded, hardly believing that this was happening. “I was just watching a movie, but I could go turn it off.”

“Actually, a movie sounds perfect.” Magnus replied. “That is, if you don’t mind.”

“No, that’s fine! Come on in!” He quickly stood back as Magnus crossed the threshold into his house and shot him a wink.

“Don’t mind if I do.”


End file.
